The Department of Finance (DOF) will launch an online tool that will streamline the reporting of data on debts and other liabilities of government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs).
In a statement yesterday, the DOF’s Corporate Affairs Group (CAG) said the use of the GOCCs’ Liabilities Reporting and Processing Tool (GLRPT) will assist the department in its analysis of the debts of state-run firms, and enable it to better manage and formulate strategies on the financial exposure of the government in relation to their liabilities.
Carlos Dominguez, DOF secretary, has instructed the CAG to ask the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) to incorporate compliance with this digital tool in its evaluation of the performance of state-run firms.
Joan Castillo, director of the DOF-CAG, said the launch of the GLRPT will involve the orientation and training of GOCC personnel on the use of the online reporting tool.
She said the GCG has agreed to transfer its web-based debt reporting system to the DOF as part of the GLRPT.
“The Central Management Information Office of the DOF further developed the system by expanding the GOCC coverage, enhancing the data field and creating a report template,” Castillo said.
Earlier, Dominguez urged the GCG to incorporate the assessments made by regulatory agencies in evaluating the performance of GOCCs to further improve its oversight functions and avoid errors in the policy-making process of the government.
Dominguez made the call after he observed several instances of “incongruence” between the evaluation done by the GCG on GOCCs and those made by particular agencies regulating these firms.
As ex-officio member of the GCG, Dominguez called on the commission to adopt his recommendation in refining its evaluation methods and factoring in the findings of regulators in assessing and rating GOCCs.
Dominguez also sits as ex-officio chairman of eight GOCCs and director of 20 state corporations, where he noticed the incongruence between the evaluation made by the GCG and those by regulatory agencies.
Dominguez said the GCG should make its review methodologies relevant to the industry sectors to help it identify factors peculiar to each GOCC “and, ultimately, come up with a scorecard that accurately measures the achievement of the vision, mission and mandates of GOCCs.” – Angela Celis